The way you look should be a sin, you my sensation
I know I’m preaching to the congregation
We love Jesus but you done learned a lot from Satan
The conceit in “Devil in a New Dress”—religious guilt as marker of romantic devotion—is too funny, too smart
Bonus: the way he says “Sa-tin, Sa-tin, Sa-tin”
- New MLK monument
- Ta-Nehisi Coates resents that Cornel West calls everyone “my dear brother” or “my precious sister” and thinks it reveals some preposterousness about him, but that uncharitable reading misses the point
- Moroccan spice mix
- Fall hair styles for men
- Kanye West’s authorial voice is surprisingly complex, and while a lot of his lyrics are funny or charmingly oblivious/naive, too many are hateful—I think people have commented on this en masse, but I don’t know, I have always skipped those articles—and I plan to take it all up with him when I see him in October
- Gosh, the lyrics on Beyonce’s new album are dumb: “I miss you, like everyday / Wanna be with you, but you’re away / I miss you, missing you insane”
- Watching “Curb Your Enthusiasm” while a Jehovah’s Witness came to the door
That’s all for now. I wish that I was typing more interesting things for my beloved Tumblr brothers and sisters.
If I landed in prison and could not listen to music, I would ask friends to print song lyrics and send them to me as letters. Then I could read the lyrics and sing the songs in my head.
[Illustration of me wearing tweed jacket, sitting crosslegged on top bunk of my prison bed, clutching a sheet of paper in one hand and a red bandana in the other, silently mouthing “Always on My Mind”]
Each time I eat reheated day-after frozen pizza, I imagine Richard Dawson saying, “We surveyed 100 people, top five answers are on the board: Name a food that is sadder than reheated frozen pizza.” But then he starts laughing, “Just kidding—there are no foods sadder than reheated frozen pizza!”
Beat Happening, “Bewitched”
Things I Would Like To Do While This Song Plays
- Beat somebody up with an electric guitar
- Lead police on a car chase through city
- Burn down Bono’s house
- Help my teenage girlfriend escape from her dad
- Strut up to the DQ window and order an extra-large Blizzard
*I don’t mean those early ones; I’m 74% pacifist
I’m pretty sure that around 2002 I saw Beyoncé do an anti-anorexia PSA on Oxygen in which she leaned on a Grecian pedestal and said—pronouncing each syllable as a separate word, you know the way she talks?—“It is important for girls to eat food.”
For some reason nobody believes that this PSA existed, they say it is a false memory, and I doubt you could resolve it even by asking Beyoncé, because she has better stuff to remember. (Do you ever wonder where she met Jay-Z? I do, too.)
Ethel Waters, “Bread and Gravy”
Now that gender is dead, this song will disappear from humankind’s memory, so enjoy it while you can, but not without some detachment
Dress up as Ethel Waters for Halloween and write on your nametag, “GENDER BINARY FANTASY”
The Coathangers, “Trailer Park Boneyard”
Sometimes I wonder if my 17-year-old self Weird Scienced the Coathangers into existence. The Twitpics from inside their tour van bolster this theory.
Conway/Loretta, “Pickin’ Wild Mountain Berries”: “We’ve been busy makin’ merries, pickin’ wild mountain berries”
Luna, “Chinatown”: “You’re out all night chasing girlies/ You’re late to work, and you go home earlies”
Smog, “Ambition”: “I never use doors no mores/ I never use stairs, just trees”
